Post by Bonobo on Jan 11, 2019 23:49:37 GMT 1

Read about the Palace here:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Culture_and_Science,_WarsawThe Palace of Culture and Science (Polish: Pałac Kultury i Nauki, also abbreviated PKiN) in Warsaw is the tallest building in Poland, the seventh tallest building in the European Union, and the world's 187th tallest building at 237 metres (778 ft)[1]. The building was originally known as the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science (Pałac Kultury i Nauki imienia Józefa Stalina), but in the wake of destalinization the dedication was revoked;[1] Stalin's name was removed from the interior lobby and one of the building's sculptures.

Construction started in 1952 and lasted until 1955. A gift from the Soviet Union to the people of Poland, the tower was constructed, using Soviet plans, almost entirely by 3500 workers from the Soviet Union, of whom 16 died in accidents during the construction.[2] The architecture of the building is closely related to several similar skyscrapers built in the Soviet Union of the same era, most notably the Moscow State University and the Moscow Kremlin Spasskaya tower. However, the main architect Lev Rudnev incorporated some Polish architectural details into the project by traveling around Poland and seeing the architecture.[2] The monumental walls are headed with pieces of masonry copied from renaissance houses and palaces of Kraków and Zamość.[2]

Shortly after opening, the building hosted the 5th World Festival of Youth and Students. Many visiting dignitaries toured the Palace, and it also hosted performances by notable international artists, such as a 1967 concert by the Rolling Stones, the first by a major western rock group behind the Iron Curtain.

As the city's most visible landmark, the building was controversial from its inception. Many Poles initially hated the building because they considered it to be a symbol of Soviet domination, and at least some of that negative feeling persists until today. Some have also argued that, regardless of its political connotations, the building destroyed the aesthetic balance of the old city and imposed dissonance with other buildings. However, over time, and especially in recent years, Warsaw has acquired a number of other skyscrapers of comparable height, so that the Palace now fits somewhat more harmoniously into the city skyline. Furthermore, since Soviet domination over Poland ended in 1989, the negative symbolism of the building has much diminished. Four 6.3-metre clock faces were added to the top of the building in 2000, making it briefly the tallest, and now the world's second-tallest, clock tower (after the NTT DoCoMo Yoyogi Building, to which a clock was added in 2002).The Palace dominates its own view.The Palace dominates its own view.

The inhabitants of Warsaw still commonly use nicknames to refer to the palace, notably Pekin (Beijing in Polish, because of its abbreviated name PKiN), Pajac ("clown", a word that sounds close to Pałac), Stalin's syringe or even the Russian Wedding Cake.[4][5] The terrace on the 30th floor, at 114 metres, is a well-known tourist attraction with a panoramic view of the city. An old joke held that the best views of Warsaw were available from the building: it was the only place in the city from where it could not be seen (a claim originally made by the French writer Guy de Maupassant about the Eiffel Tower).

The building currently serves as an exhibition centre and office complex. It is 237 metres (778 ft)[1] tall which includes the height of the spire of 49 metres. There are 3288 rooms on 42 floors, with an overall area of 123,000 m², containing cinemas, theatres, museums, offices, bookshops, and a large conference hall for 3000 people.[6] In fact, an accredited university, Collegium Civitas, makes its home on the 11th and 12th floors of the building.

Something to boast ofPolish Market2009-03-10

Andrzej Siezieniewski, deputy president of the board of Warsaw's Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN) tells Maciek Proliñski that this distinctive landmark on the Polish capital's skyline has a great great potential to attract visitors and business.

Could you explain why the Palace of Culture and Science PKiN is part of the dispute about pre-1989 Poland and what it represented?

The Palace clearly is an object of interest, particularly among foreign tourists, since it is a symbolic object of Warsaw. We can quarrel about Polish history, Warsaw's painful history, but that has nothing to do with the Palace. Can we quarrel about the Stalinist MDM (Marsza³kowska Residential District) About the similar Muranów district? The Palace is, admittedly, much more distinctive than those Warsaw districts constructed during the period of socialist realism. It just happens to be more clearly visible. It definitely is an unusual building which the world's architects unreservedly stress. It is a building which was selected last year as the world's most beautiful building of its kind. It had the misfortune to be built at a complex and painful period in Poland's history – a construction which was the Soviet people's gift to the Polish nation. Such was its regrettable historical background. But should that dominate over the purely utilitarian values of the place? I very much doubt so. Let me just add that all those external implications, implications of times long past have no possible expression in the building's architecture. For instance, the most characteristic elements of Polish interior architecture have been incorporated in the Palace. It was based on some of the most characteristic national traits in Polish architecture – Wawel Castle in Krakow, Sandomierz, Kazimierz on the Vistula, Toruñ. Numerous other Polish cities and historical structures in those cities are reflected in it. All in all, it was not the fault of the Palace of Culture and Science that it was built at that specific time on a Soviet architect's initiative. To those of us who are managing the Palace today its real utility values are the most important.

So let us talk about what the Palace means today, its role and what it offers, how they fit into what the present time requires. The Palace is surely in an enviable position with no real competition in Warsaw. After all the city lacks infrastructure when staging important international music events, congresses and conventions.

The Palace today is a huge office building, first and foremost. All companies with offices here are delighted with the existing facilities. The Palace boasts an enormous potential and has excellent access to urban transport. It is easy to get to, being in the very centre of Warsaw.

It is no longer a monument but a living object, first and foremost, in which several thousand people find employment. Its activities can be sensed throughout the entire city and, surely, the whole country. Life proceeds here in all possible dimensions. There are three theatres, a multiplex, two university-level colleges, museums and, last but not least, a magnificent entertainment and concert hall – the Congress Hall.

The Palace performs a most essential educational and cultural function. We have been creating a chronicle of events in the Congress Hall for around a year, and I would suggest that a note be made of the enthusiasm expressed by the many eminent artists who have performed here. Al Jarreau wrote: "Dear Congress Hall, what a magnificent place you are with important and fine traditions. Thank you four your invitation". Michel Legrand remarked: "Beautiful theatre, magnificent audience. What an evening! Music – love. What a magnificent life here".

Many grand congresses of world organisations are staged here. People arrive here expressing enormous interest, frequently remarking that if an event is to be held in Warsaw then it must only be at the Palace of Culture and Science. We really just do not have any competition. So let us just make full use of that fact. I'm glad we've got something like this to be proud of. The thing which surprises me most of all is that the lifts to the 30th storey of the Palace and its viewing terrace still arouse such great never-ending popularity at a time of skyscrapers and tower buildings. Hundreds of thousands take the lift there every year as a regular fixture of their trip around Warsaw.

Our whole attention today is addressed to how the activity of the Palace should be shaped to make it fit even better into Warsaw city's requirements. Its operations as a convention and concert facility will surely remain the Palace's flagship activity. We also intend to establish a banqueting, reception centre here within the next two to three years. Many firms are interested in the catering side of such activities, with the palace ensuring magnificent interiors which offer ideal conditions for such events. We are presently starting to overhaul the Congress Hall which has been classified as a historically valuable object. It will be revitalised with the original interior decorations and colour scheme. The whole auditorium will be upgraded. We plan to finish all the work to coincide with the Euro 2012 European Football Championship. This year the upholstery on all the Hall's ground-floor seats will be changed.

As of the present year the Palace will offer tourist routes for groups arriving from all over the world. The routes have already been defined and will be offered as a new mass-tourism product of excursions throughout the Palace . The Palace surely merits such treatment.